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China's CATL Aims to Build a EV Battery Plant in Germany 3 Times Bigger Than Tesla's Gigafactory

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China's CATL Aims to Build a EV Battery Plant in Germany 3 Times Bigger Than Tesla's Gigafactory

【Summary】CATL, the world’s largest maker of battery cells for electric vehicles, has already committed to building a factory in Germany, but now the battery maker plans to increase the size of its factory in Erfurt to meet rising demand from Germany’s auto industry.

FutureCar Staff Feb 06, 2019 6:26 PM PT
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CATL's headquarters and manufacturing complex in Ningde, Fujian Province, China.​


As German automakers shift towards building more electric cars, they face a daunting problem, sourcing a steady supply of EV battery cells. At the moment, Germany does not have a factory, or the raw materials, to meet the projected high demand for battery cells. The shortage is forcing German automakers to rely heavily on Asia and South Korean suppliers, including China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. (CATL).

CATL is the world's largest maker of battery cells for electric vehicles, has already committed to building a factory in Germany, but now the battery maker plans to increase the size of its factory in Erfurt to meet rising demand from Germany's auto industry.

According to Handelsblatt Today, CATL is looking to increase annual capacity far beyond its original target, said Matthias Zentgraf, CATL's head of Europe, said at an automotive conference in Bochum.

"We want to build 14 gigawatt hours in a first step and now estimate that we could be in the three-digit gigawatt area from 2026 at the latest." said Zentgraf.

That would make the German battery factory even bigger than Tesla's Gigafactory, which currently makes battery cells with a total capacity of 20 gigawatt hours. Tesla's Nevada battery factory, which is jointly operated with Panasonic, is expected to eventually increase annual output to 35 GWh.

CATL is eyeing European expansion because it expects huge growth in the European electric vehicle market in response to the EU's strict CO2 requirements and the banning diesel engine vehicles from some cities.

"A lot happened last year. The new CO2 targets will lead to a faster rise in demand than we had thought," Zentgraf told Handelsblatt.

Zentgraf said the fact that Germany's first battery-cell factory was being built by a Chinese company was simply the result of a German business sector "that didn't dare to do it."

Major OEM supplier Bosch, the world's largest automotive parts supplier, planned to build an EV battery factory in Germany, but abandoned it plans citing high investment costs.

Fleet-average CO2 emissions from new cars are to be cut by 37.5 percent by 2030 compared to levels in 2021, a limit that looks unattainable without battery-powered vehicles making up a large percentage of vehicles on the road.

As a result, VW, BMW and Daimler plan a major rollout of new electric models. However, this effort requires access to a reliable supply of battery cells.

German automakers have already committed billions of euros to purchase battery cells from CATL.

BMW plans to source €4 billion ($4.6 billion) of battery cells from CATL over the next few years. While Volkswagen awarded contracts last year for EV batteries worth €48 billion (US$54 billion) from CATL, as well as South Korean manufacturers LG Chem and Samsung SDI.

CATL is already looking out for further possible locations in Europe. The company is exploring whether it can expand upon its 70-hectare site in Erfurt.

"But if that shouldn't be enough we're taking a look around right now," said Zentgraf. In Erfurt, CATL plans to break ground on the project this spring. Battery production is scheduled to begin in 2021.


read more:
CATL to provide EV batteries to Honda
Published date: 14 February 2019​

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery producer CATL will partner with Japanese automaker Honda to develop EV lithium-ion batteries.

CATL will provide 56GWh of batteries to equip Honda's all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles in a long-term contract until 2027. CATL is planning to build a production base in Japan's Tochigi prefecture in the first half of 2019 to assist Honda's research and development.

CATL has set up branches in the US, Japan, Germany and France. It produced 11.84GWh of lithium-ion power batteries in 2017, accounting for 17pc of global output that year.

Honda has separate battery providers in different countries. In the US it has partnered with automaker General Motors on advanced battery cells and module development to increase scale and manufacturing efficiencies and accelerate plans to supply all-electric vehicles.

Japan is a global leader in the adoption of hybrids and EVs with 30pc of the country's vehicles having some degree of electric substitution for traditional internal combustion engines. This compares with less than 4pc globally. It also produces around 40pc of the world's lithium-ion batteries.
 
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German automakers have already committed billions of euros to purchase battery cells from CATL.

BMW plans to source €4 billion ($4.6 billion) of battery cells from CATL over the next few years. While Volkswagen awarded contracts last year for EV batteries worth €48 billion (US$54 billion) from CATL, as well as South Korean manufacturers LG Chem and Samsung SDI.

These are key agreements to ensure profitability in the long term.
 
These are key agreements to ensure profitability in the long term.

:D

《Purchasing Agreement between Robert Bosch GmbH Automotive Aftermarket Division and Hefei Guoxuan High-Tech Power Energy Co.,Ltd.》
 
:D

《Purchasing Agreement between Robert Bosch GmbH Automotive Aftermarket Division and Hefei Guoxuan High-Tech Power Energy Co.,Ltd.》

What is the progress on the technology front?

CATL earlier was having troubles with its batteries, and had low energy densities. Did its energy densities increase upto the level of Panasonic?
 
《Purchasing Agreement between Robert Bosch GmbH Automotive Aftermarket Division and Hefei Guoxuan High-Tech Power Energy Co.,Ltd.》
great news to hear.

Robert Bosch used to plan to build electric vehicles battery in house. Later it decides to quit because battery proves to be a big challenge to Bosch. After one year efforts on supplier seeking, they eventually lock Chinese battery companies as their suppliers.
 
What is the progress on the technology front?

CATL earlier was having troubles with its batteries, and had low energy densities. Did its energy densities increase upto the level of Panasonic?

news from 2018..

NCM 811 has higher energy density than current battery cells available on the market

reuters.com
China's CATL to start producing next-gen low-cobalt batteries in 2019
Yilei Sun
3-4 minutes
BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s largest lithium battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) plans to begin producing in 2019 next-generation nickel-rich batteries, which are cheaper to make and have longer life-spans, according to an internal company presentation and a company source.

Its plans for the NCM 811 battery, which have not been officially announced, come as global battery makers have been searching for ways to reduce the proportion of cobalt in their batteries to cut costs.

The price of cobalt, which stabilizes and extends the life of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, rose by 130 percent over 2017 and peaked at a record high of $95,250 a tonne in March this year on booming battery demand.

It has come off those levels as cobalt supply - most of which is from the Democratic Republic of Congo - has increased, but battery makers are still looking for ways to reduce its use.

South Korea’s LG Chem and SK Innovation have said they are working on producing the same type of battery. The name NCM 811 refers to a battery content of 80 percent nickel, 10 percent cobalt and 10 percent manganese.

A source at CATL, who declined to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed the authenticity of a copy of the presentation reviewed by Reuters. The presentation was given by CATL’s chief technology officer, Robert Galyen, and showed its roadmaps for its cell production and module programs.

CATL declined to comment. The company currently makes NCM 523 batteries with 50 percent nickel, 20 percent cobalt and 30 percent manganese.

The presentation’s cell production program roadmap showed that CATL plans to produce battery cells with energy density of at least 230 watt-hour per kilogram beginning in 2019, a specification that industry executives said was in line with a NCM 811 battery.

The company source said the presentation was describing an NCM 811 battery.

CATL, based in Fujian province in southeast China, has strategic agreements with carmakers including SAIC Motor Corp, Geely, BMW and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) and plans to build its first European production site in Germany.

In November, a senior CATL executive told Reuters the company was considering reducing its exposure to cobalt by changing the chemistry in its battery cathodes.

Panasonic, the exclusive battery cell supplier for Tesla Inc’s current production models has said it is aiming to develop cobalt-free batteries, but materials technology company Umicore has said that such a make-up was not possible as cobalt made up for nickel’s lack of stability.

Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; Additional reporting by Tom Daly in BEIJING; Editing by Tom Hogue
 
good news.hope we can defeat koreans and japanese in this domain
 
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Good, this also means that german auto makers will choose batteries from Chinese company CATL for their cars.
 
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